Wednesday, July 31, 2013

Let's get this out of the way first: Both Clayton Kershaw and Hiroki Kuroda were amazing tonight. Kuroda went seven, Kershaw eight. Neither gave up a run. Neither got a decision.

It was in the bottom of the eighth that things started to unravel. Juan Uribe singled off Boone Logan to start the inning. It appeared that Kershaw was going to be pinch-hit for by either Mark Ellis or Jerry Hairston. However, Kershaw was allowed to hit and laid down a fantastic bunt. Crawford flied out, Puig was walked intentionally, and AGon flied out to end the "threat."

Despite the plate appearance, Kershaw did not come out to start the ninth. Belisario walked Jeter to lead off the inning, got Cano to ground into a force out, and got Soriano to ground out.

Then, things started spiralling downward FAST. Ichiro pinch hit and was intentionally walked. Mattingly brought in Paco to face Overbay, who immediately went into an 0-2 hole after a check swing that third base ump Bill Miller called a strike. Then Overbay made THE EXACT SAME SWING on the 0-2 pitch, and Miller called no swing. (Mattingly was later ejected for arguing the call.) Paco hung a slider to Overbay, which he poked into center, scoring Cano and putting the Yankees up 1-0.

That was already enough for Mariano Rivera, but the Dodgers wanted to give him a little insurance. Jayson Nix popped up to shallow right. Mark Ellis was tracking it all the way, but Puig was calling him off. The two came together (no real collision), Ellis dropped the ball, and two more runs scored.

Rivera (who was honored in a wonderful ceremony before the game) shut the door, and the Dodgers settle for a split. They also see their lead shrink to 2.5 games after Arizona won.

In post-game comments, Kershaw said he was the one to tell Mattingly to take him out of the game. Also, Ellis owned up to his error (which didn't end up mattering due to Rivera's dominance), so I guess it's just one of those nights.